Employment in the tourism sector rose 4% y-o-y in 2Q 2025 to 997.4k workers, according to Gastat’s latest tourism statistics report (pdf). Saudi employees maintained their 24.8% share of the workforce at 247.6k workers, while the remaining 75.2% were non-Saudis. Male employees accounted for 86.8% of the workforce, while females made up 13.2%.

REMEMBER- The Kingdom will implement a three-phase Saudization plan for 41 private tourism professions, with phase one beginning in April of next year.

Hospitality facilities surged: The number of licensed tourism hospitality facilities jumped 58% y-o-y to 5.3k by the end of 2Q 2025, up from 3.4k a year earlier. Hotels made up 47.4% of the total at 2.5k, while serviced apartments and other facilities represented 52.6% at 2.8k.

Occupancy rate: Hotel room occupancy fell to 53.2%, down 2.2 percentage points y-o-y, while serviced apartments and other hospitality facilities saw occupancy dip by the same margin to 50.2%.

Room rates diverged: The average daily hotel room rate dropped 3.9% y-o-y to SAR 643, while rates for serviced apartments and similar facilities rose slightly by 1% to SAR 201.

Shorter stays: Hotel guests’ average stay declined 7.7% y-o-y to 4.8 nights in the quarter. Guests in serviced apartments and other facilities stayed an average of 2 nights, down 4.8% y-o-y.

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